1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for broiling meat and other foodstuffs such as fish and vegetables and for extracting smoke caused by such broiling.
2. The Prior Art
It is desirable to provide a grill designed to prevent meat juice from dropping on the fire or heat source under the grill to secure maximum heating effect, to keep smoke generation to a minimum as well as to make the meat juice eatable.
It is also desirable to provide a device suitable for preparing meat and other food while eating at table which may be used together with a device for effective removal of smoke which is generated while meat and other food are broiled on the grill. Such device should be easy to handle and clean and the cost of manufacturing such device should be reasonable.
It is further desirable to provide a device, for broiling meat and other food and removing smoke, for use in a restaurant which is equipped with a ventilation duct and grill mountable tables.
Those devices which have so far been used to broil meat or other food at a dining table include an iron plate placed on the heat source, a pan with a flat bottom, an iron frame having a number of parallel iron bars, or a gridiron. The iron plate and the pan with a flat bottom have drawbacks in that meat broiled thereon tends to be too juicy because of the juice produced not only by meat but also by other foodstuffs such as fish and vegetables while they are broiled on the same plate or in the same pan. Too much juice thus produced tends to harm the taste and flavor of the broiled meat. Since the juice thus produced contains oil and water, these constituents repel each other when heated and stain the table around the grill and clothes of customers and may even give scalds to customers. The conventional gridiron or frame with iron bars and other devices having openings permit juice produced by food when broiled to drop on the heat source, lowering the heat, causing oil thus dropped to burn, preventing even heating and generating much smoke. The food prepared on such devices tends to be dry, partially burned and less tasty.
Heretofore, there has been no attempt to provide a smoke extracting device for each grill that customers use on a dining table to broil meat and other food by themselves in a restaurant. The conventional method of removing smoke to the outside has been an electric fan attached to a wall near the ceiling of the dining room which may be connected with a ventilation duct. Such a fan is not provided specially for the grill on each table, but is for general ventilation of the room. The efficiency in removing outside smoke produced from the grill is generally very low and customers would be forced to eat in the midst of smoke. Such a conventional device is not only uncomfortable but also is bad for health. In addition, such a conventional device does not help to keep conditions in the restaurant clean and sanitary.
The apparatus of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims, makes it possible to broil meat and other foodstuffs in good condition, keeping an appropriate amount of juice of the prepared food, minimizing the splash of heated oil and water and the generation of smoke, and raising the efficiency of smoke removal.